How to wire a dryer.

How to Wire a Dryer

Dryer Plug

How to wire a dryer. Well, the first question asked is always what size wire.? How many amps ?. Well, that is going to depend on your dryer. Look on the back panel. But most if not all dryers made today are looking for a 30 amp circuit with 10/4 #10 AWG wire.

The breakdown. A 30 amp circuit means just that and nothing more or less. Why ? Well, the wire the breaker the dryer plug the outlet are designed to carry a max of 30 amps. And more importantly, the breaker is designed to trip if more than that. For instance, if your dryer is pulling more than 30 amps and you have a 50 amp breaker on the other end, well let’s just say you will big issues melted everything including a melted house. So stick with what you should have and not what someone gave you…

The Dryer Plug. Sure you can do something really dumb and hard wire the wire directly into the dryer. But remember that 30 amp wire can be used to pull your car out of a ditch. So when and if that dryer goes on fire try to pull the dryer out of the house with that wire connected. Or servicing it and turning off the wrong breaker.Ok enough with that.

Now the back side of the outlet. Connect each wire to the outlet as shown for your outlet. Tighten each screw nice and tight.

The Wire. You will need a 10/4 wire. This should have four wires and will have an orange cover like in the picture below.

The Breaker. Although your panel may look different rest assure the way it gets wired in will be the same. First off and most important turn the main breaker off. The two hots and it does not matter which ones go where on the TWO POLE 30 AMP BREAKER. Your ground will go to the grounding bar and the neutral will go to the neutral bar. As show in the picture below.

The Neutral Wire. The neutral wire is very important on newer dryers. With computers doing everything from putting the clothes in the dryer. These computers, lights and whatever it has uses 110 volts. One of the reasons you need that neutral wire. It’s also the return path of the unbalanced.

The Hotwires. Now it doesn’t matter what color these wires are, they can both be black. but you’ll see that you’ll have a red and black. These go to the breaker as shown.

The Ground Wire. Yup very important and if you don’t know why you should use a ground you really shouldn’t be reading this. Just use it, Ok. without a ground chances are the breaker won’t trip if and when needed.

Please keep in mind a dryer can be wired either like what is shown on this page (4 wire ) or 2 wire with a ground.

See my video and page on how to wire a 220-volt outlet if you need info on that type (three prongs)

Now go help your wife dry those clothes

How to wire a dryer.

4.15 (83.08%) 13 votes

Comments

About The Author

dominick

A residential and commercial contractor for over 35 years. Created askmediy.com 9 years ago. Making home improvement videos. Over 65k subscribers with more than 28 million views on Youtube.com Started contracting in 1987 Built over 300 homes. Licensed electrician in NY, cabinet maker, with fine woodworking skills, Very versed in all phases of home improvements. From foundations to a sink faucet.

12 Comments

Dominick AmorossoOctober 2, 2016

Yeah a single 20 amp is fine.

PatrickSeptember 5, 2016

I came here to get what sized wire to buy for the dryer circuit. The previous owner used questionable wire and when I plugged my dryer in, it lit up the light in the dryer but then died. So on your site I finally got the information needed. Thank You.

I have another electrical question. since it is very dark here at night, for safety I want to install flood lights(without motion detectors) We need to install 6 light fixtures each has 2 bulbs, and the 2 “3-way” and the 4 “4-way” light switches… The question is if this is okay for a single 20 amp circuit.

This is so anyone thinks there is a need to turn them on, they can do so from the room they are in.

Again Thank You !
4way (4) switches so each room has a switch to turn them on.

Dominick AmorossoOctober 23, 2015

Sure can. Just make sure you place a cover over the existing box and that you can access it if needed later on, thats code.

RonOctober 22, 2015

Im moving my elertic dryer I cant pull wire out of wall so can I put juntion box in line and go on to new location of deyer.

There is a lot of unanswered questions here. What size wire did he install ?. And why only a 2 wire. I would check that wire in the panel. The white wire should be connected to the breaker as well as the black wire. Besides the wire from the dryer. How is that connected to the dryer. If your dryer needs a neutral than you”ll have to replace the wire.

Lincoln holidayApril 13, 2014

Can u help me? I had a guy to run a 2 20 for my dryer but he never put in da outlet box.. so I did,it only had 3 wires.. A neutral a ground and a hot…but my dryer plug has 4 prongs.. what I did was cut a small piece and ran it from both side of the hot and then connected my hot wire to it..my dryer comes on for minute and then cut off… can u tell me what I’m doing wrong..Please

No that’s fine. For the most part they all say that. Unless your house is right next to the transformer you’ll never have that.

Sam KMarch 18, 2014

I’m buying a new oven, but on the specifications for the oven it says 40 amps and 240 Volts. My outlet is a 220V , 40 amps, would that work for the new oven even thou the spec says it requires a 240V to run the oven? FYI; i’m buying the oven from homedepot.
Model # JB250DFWW
Internet # 204370951
Store SO SKU # 1000017087